Self-created digital content sharing in retirement

In the United Kingdom the retired population is rising and statistics show that growth in the use of digital technologies and the internet are also increasing within this age group. However a polarised view of this age range has emerged as either a ‘tech-savvy’ ‘silver surfer’ web user or a fearful, ‘digitally dismissive’ reticent nonuser. This suggests an oversimplified perception of the over-65s, a section of society often ignored in qualitative internet research, and overlooks growing numbers who are using digital technology and the internet for something more than to search and consume online goods and materials.
Through the use of qualitative research interviews this paper presents an insight into a small but significant section of retirees who are using the internet to share self-created digital content. Self-created content, in the context of this research, is defined as an arrangement of visual and/or audio material that requires some element of composition or editing.
Participants revealed that they were self-initiated in their uptake of post-retirement education. Nonetheless, the acquisition of digital technology skills were often learnt unintentionally and as a consequence of embracing a new interest in retirement or the rediscovery of an old one that they may not have been able to explore prior to retirement.
This paper addresses how retired web users deploy self-created content sharing practices to communicate online and their motivations for engaging in these practices. Practices of this kind are of importance for individuals’ self-expression and participation in an increasingly digitalised world.

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an chapter published in Media, Margins and Popular Culture. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9781137512819_16